loomian_legacyfandomcom-20200222-history
User blog:L1242092/Type changes in next update (after v0.2.4c)
Type changes have been announced for the next update. Below is a list of changes and the new type effectiveness chart. This list may change before the actual update and may not be comprehensive. Source Changes * Fire from super-effective to neutral against Dark. * Plant from neutral to weak against Bug. * Light from neutral to weak against Bug. * Light from neutral to weak against Brawler. * Ice from neutral to weak against Metal. * Electric from neutral to weak against Spirit. * Bug from neutral to super-effective against Light. * Bug from neutral to weak against Bug. * Brawler from neutral to weak against Mind. * Brawler from neutral to super-effective against Typeless. * Typeless fron neutral to weak against Ice. * Typeless fron neutral to weak against Spirit. Type Effectiveness Chart Comments First, as a disclaimer, I want to mention that I have spent zero time in PvP over the last three months, so I come from a perspective of knowing little to nothing about the metagame, Loomian matchups, or type matchups. I don't PvP because I don't have enough properly trained Loomians to do so effectively, because TP training is time-consuming and boring. Matchup Changes In Jaimy Jamie's video, he lighted a few major motivators for these changes: * Light and Typeless were too strong * Bug and Brawler were too weak * Switching in safely is very difficult Nine of the 12 changes affect these types directly, seven of them being self-explanatory (Bug weak vs Bug was probably done for now-buffed Bug types to be better switch-in options against other Bug types, Brawler weak vs Mind was done to offset the buff of being strong vs Typeless). Fire was made neutral against Dark so that Dark would have one less weakness and be a better general option, which opens it to being used against Light types as an additional Light type nerf. Ice was made weak against Metal to offset the buff of now resisting Typeless, or to make Metal a more appealing option to use against Light types. Electric was made weak against Spirit as a small nerf to Electric. Overall, one strength became neutral, two neutrals became a strength, and nine neutrals became a weakness. I agree with all of the motivators Jamie cited for making these changes. In fact, except for Typeless being strong, I could have told anyone that all of those were true from the beginning of the game. Light had strong matchups where it counted the most, being good against types that had other reasons for being strong, and weak against types that weren't so stellar. Bug and Brawler were basically the opposite of that - bad against strong types, good against weak types - and tended to have as many or more vulnerabilities than resistances, or weaknesses than strengths. Switch-ins being difficult was cited by Jamie as a type matchup problem, but I don't recall him mentioning the smaller fielded team size, which is what I would have said is the reason. The fewer Loomians you can carry, the less likely you are to have one that resists a particular type. From these changes, Light does not appear to be nerfed too much, and Bug does not appear to be buffed too much, but Bug is now a hard counter against Light. Light's weakness against Brawler is not very impactful when Brawler is both uncommon and not a strong type, and Bug's resistance to Plant is not very impactful when, despite its abundance, it is not a strong type, at least offensively. Plant becoming weak against Bug is the one change I absolutely disagree with since Plant is already a very poor offensive typing, and this change not only makes Plant continue to tie for having the most types resist it, but also makes Plant have the largest difference in strengths versus weaknesses (two to five). If going down this path, Plant should have received an offensive buff to compensate, perhaps being the one to be super-effective against Light instead of Bug. Typeless nerfs appear more harsh than necessary to my untrained eye, but I have heard comments from some PvP friends that they were both necessary and justified. The weaknesses against Ice and Spirit will be more important than the new vulnerability to Brawler. In addition to that direct buff, Brawler becomes stronger implicitly through its current strengths against Ice and Bug, which have both received direct buffs, so Brawler is a more appealing option for dealing with all three types. The resistance against Light also helps, and the offset of being ineffective against Mind is potentially not a big deal since Brawler was already vulnerable to Mind and would have wanted to swap out anyways. Miscellaneous nerfs to Fire, Ice, and Electric against Dark, Metal, and Spirit respectively don't grab my attention much, though some specific matchups or Loomians may benefit from those changes. Worth noting is that with the new sixth resistance to Ice, Metal now breaks the tie with Fire, Plant, and Ancient and leads with the most types resisted, and also has a greater difference of types resisted to vulnerabilities than any other type (six to three, difference of three). Type Changes as a Balance Factor All of this having been said, one major concern I have with these changes is this being used as a means of game balance. Jamie explained that that was the purpose behind these changes, and while I understand that Loomian Legacy is still young and they probably haven't had time yet to flesh out type balance or type identity, I hope that they don't intend to making sweeping changes like these into a regular occurrence. Type matchups are one of the cornerstones of this kind of game, and fiddling with them on too often a basis can confuse players and destroy trust. Since I did not invest much time into training PvP Loomians, I lost very little with these changes. However, if I had sunk many hours into putting together a team because I expected certain types to match up in certain ways, and these changes came and invalidated much of my effort, I may be wary of spending time putting together another team in the future. Granted, new Loomians and items and mechanics will always be rolling out that shift the balance and the metagame, but that should be understood by everybody playing a game in active development, and the shifts in the metagame may only happen a few Loomians at a time. If type matchups see significant changes, it will affect the population in a more sudden and drastic way, so these kinds of measures should be taken as rarely as necessary. Was the strength of Light or Typeless so great on principle that it warranted these changes, or the weakness of Bug or Brawler? When playing PBB, we had the luxury of having so many Pokémon at our disposal that no team was without some sort of answer. We are not at the stage yet in LL that so many Loomians and strategies exist that everything could be balanced or countered. I believe the answer to this situation is patience, not sweeping mechanical changes. When the game came out and some players were running around the colosseum with full beginner Loomian teams, the answer was not to find ways to nerf the beginner Loomians or nerf their typings or buff other types, but to wait until the next update introduced Loomians with such variety and power that they could compete with and even beat those teams. Today, if Light and Typeless are overbearing, maybe the answer is to wait until more competitive Mind-type Loomians are released. If Bug or Brawler are weak, maybe the answer is to wait until stronger Loomians of either type are released, or Loomians of types they match well against. The changes to the type matchups may correct some imbalances in some types, but if this strategy is being aimed at nerfing or buffing two or three Loomians of a particular type, the reality is that whether these changes are made or not, or whether they work or not, there will still be strong and weak types, and strong and weak Loomians. Sweeping mechanical changes like these will never stop this, so this should be disregarded as a tool for balance as soon as possible.